The annual notices every NYC landlord owes tenants: window guards, lead paint and the bedbug report

Published 10/17/2026 · 5 min read · By Bulwark

Three of the most common paperwork violations in New York come from the same two months: the annual window guard and lead notice in January, and the bedbug report in December. None takes long. All of them are easy to forget.

January: the window guard and lead paint notice

Owners of buildings with three or more apartments must send every tenant an annual notice asking whether a child 10 or younger lives there (window guards) and, in buildings covered by the lead law, whether a child under 6 resides there (lead paint). HPD publishes a combined window guard and lead form for buildings built before 1978 and a window-guard-only form for newer ones. Tenants are asked to return it by February 16; the lead rules then require follow-up and inspection where needed, as covered in the lead paint guide.

Window guards: what the law requires

• Approved window guards, properly installed, on every window in an apartment where a child 10 or younger lives, including first-floor bathroom windows and windows onto a balcony or terrace
• Guards on every common-area window in those buildings
• Exceptions: windows that open onto a fire escape, and a first-floor window that is a required secondary exit where the building has fire escapes from the second floor up
• Any tenant may ask for window guards in writing, for any reason, child or not, and the owner must install them
• No more than 4½ inches of open, unguarded space in the window opening
• Tenants may not remove guards to put in an air conditioner; the installation must keep the window guarded

December: the bedbug annual report

• Owners of multiple dwellings must file a Bed Bug Annual Report with HPD every year between December 1 and December 31 (Local Law 69 of 2017), after asking tenants or unit owners about any infestation and treatment in the past year.
• The filing is free. Companies charging a fee to “file your bedbug report” are not required and not affiliated with HPD.
• The building’s HPD property registration must be valid or the online filing will not accept it.
• Corporate owners (LLCs, corporations, co-ops, condo associations) must file electronically; paper forms are accepted only from individual owners.
• After filing, give the receipt to each tenant at lease signing and renewal, or post it prominently in the building, together with the Health Department’s “Stop Bedbugs Safely” guide.

With every new lease

• The lead paint Lease / Commencement of Occupancy notice, the lead pamphlet and your turnover certification in pre-1960 buildings
• The bedbug filing receipt (unless it is posted) and the “Stop Bedbugs Safely” guide
• The Good Cause Eviction notice, covered in the
• Good Cause guide

How we help

We send the January notices, log every return and follow up on the rest, install guards where needed, and file the bedbug report every December for each building in full management. The rest of the year’s deadlines are in the compliance calendar.